If you find yourself feeling confused by the many and contradictory messages about food and diet and supplements, you’re not alone. It’s a maze!

Believe it or not, medical students do get training in nutrition. Here are some general guidelines to help you figure out the weird and wacky world of food and supplements today!

1. Eat as broad a variety as you can. Include as many vegetables and fruit as you can. It doesn’t need to be fresh vegetables. They can be frozen or canned, or even processed. But the variety helps you get vitamins and minerals, and is tasty too.

2. Don’t bother with organic. There’s no nutritional difference or health benefit. You’re better off saving the money and using it to buy more vegetables.

3. Be reasonable with salt and fat. Don’t go on a very low salt/fat or very high salt/fat diet. Your body needs both, but too much of either may increase your risk of heart disease.

4. Unless you’ve been told otherwise by your doctor, don’t take multivitamins, vitamins, or supplements. Not even antioxidants! They don’t do healthy people much if any good, and may cause harm. Exceptions to this rule include calcium for women who don’t get enough calcium in their diet and iron/folic supplements for pregnant women to prevent anemia and birth defects.

5. Eat less and move more. You don’t need to run a marathon unless you want to. But moderate exercise is definitely good. So is being a “normal” (not overweight, obese, or underweight) weight.

8. Tell your doctor about your nutrition and if you take any supplements, including herbs. Some foods may interact with your medications (grapefruit is notorious for this). If you’re trying to change a habit for the better, consider mentioning it to them. They may know some resources that would help.

Testosterone replacement therapy has become nearly common place recently. Marketing of testosterone creams is everywhere. In addition to the big pharmaceutical companies, compounding pharmacies are now making and selling testosterone creams too. Compounding pharmacies are typically small local pharmacies where the medications are made and mixed on site. A compounded medication can be helpful to someone who, for example, is allergic to a filler used in a commercial product. Compounded products are often cheaper than commercial non-generic products. Compounded products are supposed to be standardized just like commercial products are. But are they?

The Federal Food and Drug Administration (United States) produced a report back in 2006 that showed that somewhere around 33% of compounding pharmacies were not making or selling standardized products.

Now a Canadian study confirms that compounding pharmacies may not be well standardized either. The researches took samples at two different times from ten randomly selected compounding pharmacies in Toronto. The samples were then analyzed and compared to two different commercial forms.

The commercial forms were consistently within 20% of the prescribed dose. Only 50% of the compounded forms in the first batch were within those limits. Worse, only 30% of the second compounded batch were within that limit. Yikes! One pharmacy even had no testosterone in its product at all. The consistency within a pharmacy’s products also varied wildly. One pharmacy had 91% of the of the testosterone it was supposed to have in one sample, and only 8% in another sample.

The compounded testosterone was generally cheaper than the commercial testosterone. Compounded testosterone ranged from $57-161 for a 30-day supply, averaging around $105. The commercial stuff was $140-150 for 30-days.

This has very serious concerns for patients. Wild swings in testosterone level are not safe. For their safety and health, a patient should receive the dose that was prescribed. Not “half the dose one month” and “double the dose the next”. The lower price of the compounded products could easily lure a lower income patient into purchasing the compound instead of the commercial.

What can you do as a patient? Make sure that you get your prescriptions from a non-compounding pharmacy. If cost is an issue, talk with your pharmacist about using a generic. Generics are held to the same standards are brand-name drugs and are often made by the same company. Alternatively, consider discussing medication options with your physician and/or pharmacist.

Hormone therapy for trans people has long been known to change body shape and body fat percentage. But by how much? And how much can be expected in the first year? A European study of 77 trans women and 73 trans men found out!

On average over the first year of hormones…

Both trans women and trans men gained weight overall. On average they gained around 4-6 pounds (2-3 kg). Both groups started with a BMI around 24 (just barely between normal weight and overweight). For trans men, this weight gain tipped them into the “overweight” category. Trans women stayed in the “normal” weight category.

Trans women gained body fat and lost muscle mass. Their body fat went up from 24% to 28%. They lost a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of muscle mass.

Trans men lost body fat and gained muscle mass. Their body fat went down from 34% to 30%. They gained 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of muscle mass.

There wasn’t much of a significant different in waist sizes.

It may be helpful to remember body fat percentage numbers. For cis women, 21-31% is considered a fit or normal range. For cis men, 14-25% is the fit or normal range. So the trans women in this study started out at an average body fat percentage and stayed there. The trans men in this study started off with too much body fat and stayed there.

During the first year of hormones it seems that around a 4% change in body fat can be expected. Trans men can gain quite a bit of muscle. Trans women will lose some muscle.

As a final note: this was a European study. The hormones used in Europe are different than the ones used in the United States. The results may not be applicable in the United States.

This is the start of a new series of posts here on Open Minded Health: Quickies! I often run into items in the medical literature that are too short to do a fully post on, but for whatever reason I think it’s worth covering it anyway.

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This week’s quickie is a case report, which was presented as a poster at a medical conference.

A trans woman in her thirties showed up at the emergency room with gastrointestinal problems. She had nausea, pain, and bleeding. No significant medical history was noted in the report, and she was on a normal dose of hormone therapy.

When they took her blood to run some lab tests, the sample appeared “as white and turbid as milk.”

Her lab work revealed a triglyceride level of 30,000 mg/dl. For reference, a normal triglyceride level is less than 150. Above 500 is considered “very high.”

She was immediately transferred to the intensive care unit for treatment. Triglycerides that high can cause inflammation of the pancreas. Thankfully all her pancreatic lab values were normal. After a week of treatment, which managed to get her triglycerides down to 3,000, she was sent home. She was instructed to stop estrogen treatment, take new prescribed triglyceride-lowering medications, and to follow up with her physician.

Why did the hospital physicians recommend that this patient stop her estrogen? Because estrogen treatment is known to increase triglyceride levels. Triglyceride levels that high are extremely rare. A much more mild version can, however, happen to anyone who has high estrogen levels. It can happen to cis women in pregnancy or receiving hormone replacement therapy for menopause. It can also happen to trans women on estrogen treatment.

High triglyceride levels are usually “silent” — there are no symptoms. That’s part of the reason it’s important to see a physician regularly for screening, especially if you’re at higher risk. High triglyceride levels are more likely if you…

are overweight

don’t exercise

eat a high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet

have other cardiovascular issues

are on certain medications

or if it runs in your family

Mild elevations in triglyceride levels may be controllable with diet, exercise, and weight control. If those don’t help, your physician may prescribe medications to lower your triglycerides.

For more information on triglycerides, including what they are, normal levels, and how to control them…check out this article by WebMD or ask your primary care provider.

What is Open Minded Health?

OMH is dedicated to providing information about gender and sexual minority health. Posts are a mix of the latest research, activity risk reduction tips, and the latest news.

This blog is definitely not suitable for children, and probably not work safe. It contains descriptions of sexual activities that may disturb some readers.

Also please be aware: I am not a doctor. OMH does not provide health care advice - the information here is to be used as information only. It does not substitute a visit to your health care provider. When in doubt, please ask your health care provider.

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